25 new runways would eliminate most air travel delays in America. Why can’t we build them? 50 patent owners are blocking a major drug maker from creating a cancer cure. Why won’t they get out of the way? 90% of our broadcast spectrum sits idle while American cell phone service lags far behind Japan’s and Korea’s. Why are we wasting our airwaves? 98% of African American–own25 new runways would eliminate most air travel delays in America. Why can’t we build them? 50 patent owners are blocking a major drug maker from creating a cancer cure. Why won’t they get out of the way? 90% of our broadcast spectrum sits idle while American cell phone service lags far behind Japan’s and Korea’s. Why are we wasting our airwaves? 98% of African American–owned farms have been sold off over the last century. Why can’t we stop the loss? All these problems are really the same problem—one whose solution would jump-start innovation, release trillions in productivity, and help revive our slumping economy.Every so often an idea comes along that transforms our understanding of how the world works. Michael Heller has discovered a market dynamic that no one knew existed. Usually, private ownership creates wealth, but too much ownership has the opposite effect—it creates gridlock. When too many people own pieces of one thing, whether a physical or intellectual resource, cooperation breaks down, wealth disappears, and everybody loses. Heller’s paradox is at the center of The Gridlock Economy. Today’s leading edge of innovation—in high tech, biomedicine, music, film, real estate—requires the assembly of separately owned resources. But gridlock is blocking economic growth all along the wealth creation frontier.

A thousand scholars have applied and verified Heller’s paradox. Now he takes readers on a lively tour of gridlock battlegrounds. Heller zips from medieval robber barons to modern-day broadcast spectrum squatters; from Mississippi courts selling African-American family farms to troubling New York City land confiscations; and from Chesapeake Bay oyster pirates to today’s gene patent and music mash-up outlaws. Each tale offers insights into how to spot gridlock in operation and how we can overcome it.

The Gridlock Economy is a startling, accessible biography of an idea. Nothing is inevitable about gridlock. It results from choices we make about how to control the resources we value most. We can unlock the grid; this book shows us where to start....more

Community Reviews

When I saw the surprisingly low average rating and the critical reviews of this book on Goodreads, I thought that Heller might be being slimed by the Internet Zombie Army of Libertarian Trolls for the heresy of daring to suggest that more more more private property (the bone-chilling cry of IZALT) wasn't always the answer to all of the world's problems. But alas, the criticisms are justified. Heller's style gets in the way of his good ideas. Like others, I was distracted by Heller's fondness forWhen I saw the surprisingly low average rating and the critical reviews of this book on Goodreads, I thought that Heller might be being slimed by the Internet Zombie Army of Libertarian Trolls for the heresy of daring to suggest that more more more private property (the bone-chilling cry of IZALT) wasn't always the answer to all of the world's problems. But alas, the criticisms are justified. Heller's style gets in the way of his good ideas. Like others, I was distracted by Heller's fondness for “I” and “me”, and returning to the same anecdotes again and again. Also alarming was his apparent conviction that there is not enough jargon in the world, so he must feverishly make more.

Still, the next time you see a beautiful historic urban structure falling down, wait needlessly for hours at an airport, or wonder why US cell phone service is mediocre, you may wish to consider plowing through the repeated anecdotes and manufactured jargon in this book, because Heller has a good case to make about public and private ownership.

I would also like to praise whomever is responsible for this newish book costing $4.41 for a Kindle download (as of 13 March 2011).

Hour-long November 2009 interview with Heller about this book available for free streaming or downloading at

This book feels like a legal Malcolm Gladwell wannabe. Now, Gladwell is a compelling writer, so in some ways, that's a high bar. That said, what it feels like is that the book didn't have enough new ideas, so instead of digging deeper, the one interesting idea is couched in a veritable dictionary of new jargon designed for the purpose of explaining an idea that probably wasn't all that complicated to begin with. Thus, instead of using normal terms, he starts using his own terms, making it more dThis book feels like a legal Malcolm Gladwell wannabe. Now, Gladwell is a compelling writer, so in some ways, that's a high bar. That said, what it feels like is that the book didn't have enough new ideas, so instead of digging deeper, the one interesting idea is couched in a veritable dictionary of new jargon designed for the purpose of explaining an idea that probably wasn't all that complicated to begin with. Thus, instead of using normal terms, he starts using his own terms, making it more difficult to understand. He also layers multiple examples—all of which have the same point—to inch the book towards the 200-page mark. (He only makes it once you factor in the acknowledgements.) I'm grateful it wasn't longer—it didn't need to be a long as it was—but to make a full-blown book out of it, I think he could have probably done some more work to come up with original thoughts. While it's hard to offer a full-blown endorsement, the idea he offers and the examples are interesting enough to make the book worth reading for someone interested in property rights....more

This was a great book, showing how intellectual property, strictly defined, actually destroys culture and hinders growth. He argues that when too many people own too many parts of one piece of property (say, a genetic patent), it makes development of treatments for diseases vastly more costly and slow. There is a treatment for (I believe) Alzheimers sitting on the R&D shelf of a pharmaceutical company somewhere, unable to be produced because it relied on several other patented components, anThis was a great book, showing how intellectual property, strictly defined, actually destroys culture and hinders growth. He argues that when too many people own too many parts of one piece of property (say, a genetic patent), it makes development of treatments for diseases vastly more costly and slow. There is a treatment for (I believe) Alzheimers sitting on the R&D shelf of a pharmaceutical company somewhere, unable to be produced because it relied on several other patented components, and the creators will not release the right to use what they invented. Thus, people languish when a treatment exists because of the selfishness of a few.

He deals with some other problems too, most notably in television stations, cell phone frequencies and airports. A mere twenty-five new airports across our country would eliminate all flight delays, but the building projects are stalled by too much ownership of the land needed to build. Most of the frequencies for television broadcast and cell phone use lay utterly unused - because some corporations have bought up those frequencies and won't let anyone use them, to stall out competition.

Heller coins the term "tragedy of the anti-commons." When a resource is being overused, it is called a "tragedy of the commons." But when too many people control one object, we have a "tragedy of the anti-commons, which is the tragedy of *underuse*....more

Nicely done. Heller summarizes his research into "anti-commons"--the problem that arises when resources that are most efficient in some minimum quantity (like land) are divided into parcels that make them economically useless. The trouble with an anti-commons is that the process is asymmetrical: it is very easy to fragment land (or intellectual property) but very difficult to re-assemble it. The result is the "gridlock" in the title. When "too many people own too little of too much", houses don'Nicely done. Heller summarizes his research into "anti-commons"--the problem that arises when resources that are most efficient in some minimum quantity (like land) are divided into parcels that make them economically useless. The trouble with an anti-commons is that the process is asymmetrical: it is very easy to fragment land (or intellectual property) but very difficult to re-assemble it. The result is the "gridlock" in the title. When "too many people own too little of too much", houses don't get built, drugs don't get brought to market, cultural innovations fail to appear, and so on. In land markets, gridlock can occur in two ways. First, too many people might own small parcels of land. Second, too many agencies might have regulatory control over land, making development difficult even for owners who control an economically viable parcel. Thus an anti-commons can be both physical and legal. Heller writes in an accessible style, convincingly demonstrates the real-world costs of gridlock, and offers some potential solutions....more

How full of himself is Michael Heller? Well, for starters, he names the central irony that underlies his book the "Heller Paradox" . . . The major problem with this book is that Heller spends far too much time placing him at the center of what is a novel but not very complicated idea, rather than elaborating with examples. More specifically, he doesn't elaborate with enough DIFFERENT examples. We hear about storefronts in Russia five times before he eventually devotes an entire chapter to the exHow full of himself is Michael Heller? Well, for starters, he names the central irony that underlies his book the "Heller Paradox" . . . The major problem with this book is that Heller spends far too much time placing him at the center of what is a novel but not very complicated idea, rather than elaborating with examples. More specifically, he doesn't elaborate with enough DIFFERENT examples. We hear about storefronts in Russia five times before he eventually devotes an entire chapter to the example, and by the time you reach the chapter, you already know what the conclusion is because the concept isn't difficult to grasp.

Indeed, Heller, like a latter-day Adam naming the animals, spends almost all of his time creating an entirely unnecessary new vocabulary that is just a little too winking and self-indulgent. I entered this book very prepared to jump on-board with the concept, but I found that the actual discussion wasn't much more enlightening than the description of the book on the inside flap. It was like going to a movie only to find out that not only are the best parts of the movie in the trailer, but the rest of it is completely annoying.

For all of Heller's pomp, there is no reason this should be a book rather than a 70, nay 60, page law review article. But hey, at least the cover is clever. ...more

Heller spends too much time belaboring his points, and not nearly enough time either giving examples of when his points occur (he reiterates the same two or three, without much detail, multiple times), and skipping the process of thinking about how his proposed takeovers of independently controlled property could have adverse consequences. He gives an interesting discussion and push of the terms anticommons and underuse - but seems more concerned with ensuring "his" words enter the lexicon, perhHeller spends too much time belaboring his points, and not nearly enough time either giving examples of when his points occur (he reiterates the same two or three, without much detail, multiple times), and skipping the process of thinking about how his proposed takeovers of independently controlled property could have adverse consequences. He gives an interesting discussion and push of the terms anticommons and underuse - but seems more concerned with ensuring "his" words enter the lexicon, perhaps cementing his scholarly legacy.

I'd rather have seen a concise discussion of multiple situations where over ownership of property has negative economic effects, and how he proposes we solve these, either through the lens of the law (his specialty) or through other incentives.

I was also a bit disturbed by his seeming approval of the use of eminent domain for purposes that shift wealth from the many into the hands of the few - an inappropriate, but as he says, ultimately unavoidable feature of eminent domain. Living in a city where the government's use of eminent domain to install interstates has devastated neighborhoods, I see it for the problems it truly causes.

I'd recommend reading a few reviews, getting a gist of the story, and skipping the purchase of this book. ...more

You've heard of the 'tragedy of the commons' (a situation in which lack of ownership of a resource, e.g., fish stocks, leads to overuse and concomitant diminishment of the resource)? Heller wants to draw our attention to its complement: tragedy of the anticommons - a situation in which too many owners of a resource effectively block each other and waste the resource through underuse. The book cites many examples of the sorts of gridlock that can arise when many players are caught unsuspectinglyYou've heard of the 'tragedy of the commons' (a situation in which lack of ownership of a resource, e.g., fish stocks, leads to overuse and concomitant diminishment of the resource)? Heller wants to draw our attention to its complement: tragedy of the anticommons - a situation in which too many owners of a resource effectively block each other and waste the resource through underuse. The book cites many examples of the sorts of gridlock that can arise when many players are caught unsuspectingly in a nash equilibrium - situations where all would clearly benefit from cooperation, but none individually has any incentive to move off of their local peak: the profusion of gene patents that stall innovation; overregulation of the airwaves that wastes bandwidth; land ownership laws originally designed to protect vulnerable populations (black share croppers, native americans) that lead to such fragmentation of ownership ("the big inch") that future consolidation and use becomes impossible. Heller provides a number of policy prescriptions at the end (in a fascinating chapter on the history of oyster farming - "why aren't oysters extinct?"). Mostly, this is a book designed to plant the memes of "anticommons" and "underuse" in our heads so that we'll be more alert to it going forward....more

I'm divided about how I feel about this book. In some ways, I don't think that Heller did a thorough job of really explaining his proposed solutions to what is indeed a very thorny problem. On the other hand, his ideas keep popping up in my head, and I've started to see real world situations that I had never noticed before which are perfect examples of exactly what he's talking about. The problem is that, now that I see the problems and can identify them for what they are, I still have no idea hI'm divided about how I feel about this book. In some ways, I don't think that Heller did a thorough job of really explaining his proposed solutions to what is indeed a very thorny problem. On the other hand, his ideas keep popping up in my head, and I've started to see real world situations that I had never noticed before which are perfect examples of exactly what he's talking about. The problem is that, now that I see the problems and can identify them for what they are, I still have no idea how to fix them, and it's really kind of depressing. So I don't know. Maybe it's so brilliant that I just don't get it. Or maybe it's that he really didn't do a very good job of explaining things. Or maybe I just need to give it more time to sink in. I don't know. What I *do* know is that it's spawned at least four or five separate conversations with various people that I know, and all of them have been really interesting conversations with surprising insights, so at least it's got that going for it. Maybe I'll just have to read it again ......more

The basic idea of the tragedy of the anti-commons is an interesting one, although I believe a misnomer. The author explains in excruciating detail the challenges that privatization can lead to - although, a certain type of privatization in which the ownership is broken into many small claims.

The author shows how piecemeal privatization can lead to a variety of problems and inefficiencies, many of which are serious and deeply troubling. That said, the author offers no solutions other than vagueThe basic idea of the tragedy of the anti-commons is an interesting one, although I believe a misnomer. The author explains in excruciating detail the challenges that privatization can lead to - although, a certain type of privatization in which the ownership is broken into many small claims.

The author shows how piecemeal privatization can lead to a variety of problems and inefficiencies, many of which are serious and deeply troubling. That said, the author offers no solutions other than vague handwaving, and the text is so redundant, and at times poorly written that I can't really recommend reading it.

I'm pretty sure the wikipedia article on anticommons dilemmas will get you 98% of the info you'd get from this book, in a small fraction of the time. Important topic, poorly executed....more

"Heller summarizes his research into "anti-commons"--the problem that arises when resources that are most efficient in some minimum quantity (like land) are divided into parcels that make them economically useless. The trouble with an anti-commons is that the process is asymmetrical: it is very easy to fragment land (or intellectual property) but very difficult to re-assemble it. The result is the "gridlock" in the title"

This was an interesting book. It deserves a second read, because I skimmed"Heller summarizes his research into "anti-commons"--the problem that arises when resources that are most efficient in some minimum quantity (like land) are divided into parcels that make them economically useless. The trouble with an anti-commons is that the process is asymmetrical: it is very easy to fragment land (or intellectual property) but very difficult to re-assemble it. The result is the "gridlock" in the title"

This was an interesting book. It deserves a second read, because I skimmed much of the ending since it needed to be returned to the library. The complicated issue of individual patents holding up so much research and development of products was an eye opener and a sad setback for growth in medicine, technology, etc....more

A very basic idea that just as there is a tragedy of the commons where lack of ownership over common property will cause all to abuse that common property there is also such a thing as too much ownership of common property such that the costs of compiling, grouping and sharing that property become very inefficient. For example: it now costs too much money to patent new bio-tech drugs due to the myriad of patents that one must be afraid of violating; so many new drugs are not developed at all. ThA very basic idea that just as there is a tragedy of the commons where lack of ownership over common property will cause all to abuse that common property there is also such a thing as too much ownership of common property such that the costs of compiling, grouping and sharing that property become very inefficient. For example: it now costs too much money to patent new bio-tech drugs due to the myriad of patents that one must be afraid of violating; so many new drugs are not developed at all. The basic thesis that gridlock occurs when there are too many different owners of a kind of property is quite good, but the book as a whole was repetitive and didn't really have anything more than this one (excellent) point to make. ...more

Interesting overview of real-life situations in which too much ownership can lead to unfortunate underuse. Really grabbed me with the example talking about Alzheimer's treatments being left on the lab bench because the company couldn't hack through the patent thickets around the technologies they used to develop the cure. More interesting historical and modern examples. But, the book is very padded, repeating stories, tied together with a thin set of references back to a few concepts introducedInteresting overview of real-life situations in which too much ownership can lead to unfortunate underuse. Really grabbed me with the example talking about Alzheimer's treatments being left on the lab bench because the company couldn't hack through the patent thickets around the technologies they used to develop the cure. More interesting historical and modern examples. But, the book is very padded, repeating stories, tied together with a thin set of references back to a few concepts introduced at the beginning. Haven't yet read the "toolkit for solutions" chapter - perhaps that'll make it worthwhile....more

IlluminatingI'm generally for both free markets and strong property rights, and expected to find a lot to disagree with in this book, but I didn't.The author does a good job of laying out the problems caused by the conflict of multiple stake holders or owners in a wide range of areas from intellectual property to land ownership. His assessment of cause and effect is difficult to disagree with. One may find fault with his proposed solutions, but I found most of them reasonably well thought out.

Cost of doing business getting prohibitive, licensing fees, copyright bullies extort large payments.Patent holders block drug development protecting their intellectual property. Over last 20 years, gridlock was not an issue, but now it is prevalent.Patents now act as a block to further developmentNew ideas now need to start by creating thousands of watertight patents. (A high barrier to entry for the smaller players – another drastic byproduct)

So far it is interesting. I didn't realize this was new information; that private property adds expense to collaboration, sometimes to the point that projects are abandoned. We have have popular cultural references where the private owner who holds out against big company buy-outs becomes a hero!

It is intesting, tho, to learn of some of the contemporary implications in patents and other intellectual property.

Fantastic book, truly a new economic theory, makes sense of cartel theory and certain game theories and finally helps put the privatization vs. regulation wars into perspective. However,everything you need is in the first couple chapters, he starts trailing off...a lot when you get to the chapter on oyster beds. While the oyster bed chapter is an interesting read, it's more or less useless.

It's frustrating me because he's working on this scale from overuse to underuse, and doesn't ever seem to hint that there might be some things for which the ideal level of use is none. Everything is a resource to be exploited, and the issue is making sure it's exploited most efficiently. It's hard to pick up again when i set it down.

An interesting book that raised some familiar concerns on copyright and intellectual property. In addition there was discussion around public policy concerning assembling land for public purposes and how fragmentation can thwart the public good.

I got through about half of it and then I felt like the author had made the major point and was largely over doing it, so I moved on to other books in my to read list. I may get back to it and read the whole thing at some point.

Interesting ideas, but somewhat repetitive without a good take home or strategy for overcoming the issues presented. This would have made a better book if it was edited down to about 1/2 its current length.